The Green Team Goes Wild: Project Animal Rescue

It’s been awhile since we updated you all on the goings on of the employee Green Team here at eBay. This story, however, was worth the wait. About a month ago, I had the privilege of working together with our incomparable Workplace Resources team on an impromptu project that made all of us smile a little bigger that day. We asked Brigette Greener – who heads up our facilities team here at the Whitman campus in San Jose – to give us a first person account of eBay’s first-ever animal rescue project. Enjoy!

As a Facilities group, we aren’t surprised by much. We thought we’d seen it or heard it all, until one day, while performing a routine landscape inspection, we walked by one of our buildings and noticed a Canadian goose who appeared to be loitering behind one of the planters.

We thought to ourselves: “How odd. Is this little guy lost? Did it fly into the window? Is it confused? Hungry? Hurt? Can geese, in fact, loiter?” Upon closer inspection, we noticed that one of its wings appeared to be injured and that it needed medical attention. No problem, we have tackled far greater challenges. Or so we thought.

We assumed we would simply call a wildlife organization and they would send a trained expert to pick up the animal, mend its wing, and that would take care of the problem. However, in this case, when we called the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley, they weren’t able to collect the bird because their organization is state funded and has experienced some serious budget cuts. They informed us that if we could get the goose to their facility in San Jose, they would certainly take care of it; however we needed to get the goose there on our own.

At this point, our creativity and resourcefulness kicked in and we thought: “No problem, this beautiful bird couldn’t have chosen a better place to require help. We have an entire team of fantastic people that are willing and able to lend a hand.” So with the help of a very large dog carrier, a couple of exceptionally brave facilities technicians and a pickup truck, we were able to move the goose and transport him to the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley in San Jose.

Today, our Canadian buddy is enjoying an exciting new life doing fun and interesting goose-like activities at Vasona Park in Los Gatos, CA. His wing (yes, it is a boy) has healed nicely, and he also got something—actually four somethings—he wasn’t expecting. Last month he was released along with four additional baby geese that were also rescued and living at the Center. Instant family!